


Cabeza no Cerveza

by cortexikid



Series: Schneider’s Choice [1]
Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017)
Genre: Avery gives Schneider an ultimatum, F/M, Family is everything, Post-Season/Series 03, and Nick the sponsor, discussions of alcoholism, her or the Alvarezes, it’s a no-brainer really, mentions of Avery, recovering schneider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-29 02:46:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17799677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cortexikid/pseuds/cortexikid
Summary: “I made my choice, Penelope.”It was her turn then, to close her eyes, the last of those stubborn tears clinging to her eyelashes, slipping down her cheeks.“But you shouldn’t have to. It’s not fair, Schneider. I…I don’t want you to regret—”He reached out, clasping her hand in his, his gaze glued to her, silently cataloging every minute detail of her face.“I don’t regret anything, Pen. I never will. She gave me a choice. Her, or the Alvarezes. It was a no-brainer.”





	Cabeza no Cerveza

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure, I like Avery and Schneider. They’re cute. I just don’t think they’re long for this world. Too similar, Avery is too much from the world Schneider tries to leave behind him, no matter how much she herself also tries. I was always a believer of balance in a relationship, and I think Schneider and Penelope have that in each other. In their friendship and certainly in something deeper if that ever develops—I very much hope it does in the future seasons. For now, I offer you all this. My tentative first attempt at a pre-Alvareider fic, with a little plot-line that I could definitely see happening at some point in Schneider’s arc

The glass felt cool against his skin. The ice had melted hours ago, but its remnants lay pooled at the bottom, taunting him. He had been staring at it a long while now. Too long. He knew it was only a matter of time before she found him. Before she fixed him with that look that always said a hell of lot more than she ever did out loud.

 

_I’m worried about you, Schneider._

 

_This is just one of those days, Schneider._

 

_I’m disappointed in you, Schneider._

 

That last one she would deny down to the ground, but he had seen it anyway. Lining her face in those dark moments where he struggled to pick up the phone to call his sponsor. Where he didn’t yell, but his tone was sharp all the same. Those times where the mask slipped and his mouth forgot how to form the patented smile that he had perfected over the years.

 

He saw something else in her then too.

 

Apprehension.

 

As if she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

For him to take another drink.

 

Gulp it down as if his life depended on it.

 

He hadn’t. Not yet.

 

But today, more than most, was testing him.

 

“There’s nothing in that, is there?”

 

Right on time, as always.

 

“No,” he murmured, eyes still locked on the glass, his grip tightening around it.

 

“Did you call Nick?”

 

He felt rather than saw her sit down next to him, her thigh grazing his, a coil of tension running through it.

 

“He’s on his way.”

 

“Don’t lie to me, Schneider.”

 

His eyes slipped closed then. He hated how easy the lies fell from his lips. How that part of him, desperate and afraid, became so cunning and manipulative, like a poison seeping into his DNA and coating it with something insidious, deconstructing and not him.

 

Or rather, not him anymore. Not who he wanted to be, ever again.

 

“I’m sorry, Pen.”

 

His throat was tight, his words choked, gripped in a vice of the emotion that was bubbling up and threatening to erupt at any moment.

 

Her hand reached out, slow but firm, her small fingers lacing with his.

 

“Don’t be sorry. Be sober.”

 

He let out a tiny laugh, willing the stinging in his eyes to go away as he blinked them open.

 

“You’ve been reading my book again, haven’t you?”

 

He felt her shrug, as her shoulder pressed against his.

 

“Nick said it might help.”

 

A surge of something he couldn’t, or wouldn’t name, ran through him then. A split second, a twinge really, before he forced out: “You and Nick been having a lot of one-on-ones lately? Didn’t realise you were an addict.”

 

Her hand left his. Just like he knew it would.

 

“Look at me, Schneider.”

 

It took all of his willpower, more than he ever had to summon to deny himself alcohol, not to look at her right then.

 

“Please, Schneider.”

 

His eyes met hers. He was only human.

 

That familiar dark gaze was glistening with unshed tears, her cheeks blotched by those shed already. Suddenly, he wasn’t ready to hear what she had to say yet. So he did what always came naturally to him—avoidance.

 

“What’s that your mom keeps saying saying again?” He asked, plastering on a wry grin as he did a weak impersonation of Lydia, raising his voice several octaves higher, “ Cabeza no cerveza! Use tu cerebro, Schneider. Do not let the devil’s bever-age win.”

 

Penelope fixed him with a look her mother would be proud of. Clearly not falling for his brush-off, but humoring him nonetheless.

 

“She’s got a point. I told you, the woman really could be a motivational speaker, maybe even a good one, with all the catchy, cheesy lines she spouts,” she paused, “not that I’d ever tell her that.”

 

Schneider snorted, tilting his head, “Living La Vida Sobria with Lydia Margarita del Carmen Inclán Maribona Leyte-Vidal de Riera.”

 

“Ha, she’d fail that in a second. Mami loves her rum too much.”

 

They shared a small smile. But it didn’t last long. Just like Schneider knew it wouldn’t.

 

“I’m sorry about Avery.”

 

“I’m not.”

 

The truth of that statement rang throughout his body like a struck bell. He wasn’t sorry that he made Avery leave him. He’d do it again in heartbeat.

 

“I can—” Penelope paused, reaching up to wipe at her eyes, “I can call her. Convince her to—”

 

“No.”

 

“But if we just—”

 

“I made my choice, Penelope.”

 

It was her turn then, to close her eyes, the last of those stubborn tears clinging to her eyelashes, slipping down her cheeks.

 

“But you shouldn’t have to. It—it’s not fair, Schneider. I…I don’t want you to regret—”

 

He reached out, clasping her hand in his, his gaze glued to her, silently cataloging every minute detail of her face.

 

“I don’t regret anything, Pen. I never will. She gave me a choice. Her, or the Alvarezes. It was a no-brainer.”

 

She let out a breath at that, shallow and uneven as if bracing herself.

 

A beat of silence hung between them.

 

Two.

 

Three.

 

“I don’t want you to resent us.”

 

It was barely above a whisper, but he felt it as if she had shouted it at him.

 

He wished she was looking at him as he spoke another truth, “I could never resent you, Pen. Any of you. Ever. I could never be with anyone that made me choose between them and…my family.”

 

He felt a little wary saying the ‘F’ word around his best friend sometimes. But she didn’t argue with him, fight him on it, she just nodded after a moment as if digesting his words, eyes still closed, her hand gripping his tightly.

 

“She didn’t deserve you.”

 

Her eyes finally met his. The conviction of her words gleaming like steel in them.

 

He guffawed, fighting to hold her gaze, “What, she didn’t deserve an alcoholic man-child with a penchant for snow-globes? Yeah, she sure didn’t.”

 

Penelope shifted on the couch, turning to face him fully, her hand never leaving his.

 

“No, Schneider. She didn’t deserve the sweet, kind man with a penchant for caring for crazy kids and crazier mothers and overbearing grandmothers. She didn’t deserve the man that never raised the rent on any of his tenants in seventeen years, who coached a kid’s baseball team when they had no-one else, who was a listening ear to a confused, scared teenager and a shoulder to cry on for a depressed and anxious single-mom. She didn’t deserve the _recovering_ alcoholic who is doing his best to live his life as healthily as he can, or the best, most reliable friend anyone could ever ask for.”

 

Schneider was gaping. He knew he was. Penelope, in all their years of friendship, had never complimented him in quite that depth before, and yet, he knew, that every word she had spoken was the truth—or at least, the truth in her opinion.

 

Warmth spread throughout his chest.

 

“I’ll call Nick.”

 

She nodded, biting her lip, as if holding herself back from saying even more nice things to him.

 

There was only so much she’d allow. Lest his head get too big to fit through their apartment door. Then again, Schneider couldn’t help but wonder if she’d see that as a good thing.

 

But as she squeezed his hand again, reaching up and running her fingers through the hairs at the nape of his neck, he realized that no, that was not a good thing to his best friend. She wanted him around. She appreciated him. All the Alvarezes did. Which just made his choice that much easier.

 

“I’ll sit with you while you dial,” she coaxed gently, inclining her head in the direction of his cellphone that lay on his coffee table.

 

He took a breath, chest feeling as if a boulder had been lifted from him when he reached for his phone, tapping in the familiar number, and pressing call.

 

Penelope’s eyebrows raised to her hairline, as she went to move, gesturing over her shoulder, “I can wait in the kitchen—give you some privac—”

 

“Stay. Please.”

 

She halted immediately, half-risen from the couch. Slowly, she eased herself back down, tucking up one socked foot underneath her.

 

Without looking at her, Schneider reached back out with his free hand, gently laying it palm up against her knee. Her small fingers brushed his instantly, gripping tightly as a tinny voice filled the apartment:

 

_“Pat? What’s up, man?”_

 

With one last look at the woman who had become the closest and best friend he had ever had, he raised the phone to his ear.

 

“Hey, Nick. You got a sec?”

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So, hope I did okay for a first attempt. I may write a companion piece to this, outlining the argument that led to the break-up and more from the Alvarezes’ POV. If that’s something people are interested in? Let me know :)


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